Belfast Zoo and Complete Water Treatment are celebrating the benefits of Gaffey’s unique Hyprolyser® technology, a first for Norther Ireland. Not only has The Hyprolyser® electrochlorination system been very successful in keeping the Sea Lion pool clean, contributing to the animals’ health and wellbeing, and the zoo has been able to reinvest significant direct cost savings back into the zoo.

The project requirement

As with all modern zoos, animal care and welfare are paramount. The zoo is required to achieve and maintain the highest standards of animal care, physical, mental nutritionally and behaviourally, ensuring an enriched life and keeping fastidious records.

In 2020 FM Environmental won a contract to refurbish the Sea Lion Pool Water Filtration and Treatment Plant. Complete Water Treatment are a family-owned company specialising in install, management, service and aftercare for water treatment and filtration systems in Northern Ireland and were well placed to help on this project.

The challenge

Home to three adult California Sea Lions each over 6 feet long and averaging 320kgs, the outdoor Sea Lion pool, some 500m3 is above ground and presented many challenges.

To enhance the Sea Lions’ wellbeing, the pool was to become a salt-water environment and it was thought that an in-line system requiring some 5-6 units would be the answer to ensuring water purity. However, the system, installation and ongoing maintenance would be costly and with ever tightening budgets, an alternative solution was needed.

Working closely with Gaffey’s technical team, Complete Water Treatment proposed Gaffey’s unique patented Hyprolyser® Compact 960. Not only was this a more expedient solution, but would bring additional sustainable and cost-saving benefits to the zoo and would be the first application of Hyprolyser® in an aquatic environment in Northern Ireland.

Hyprolyser® Compact 960 selected

Hyprolyser® electrochlorination systems use only harmless salt, water and electricity to generate <1% sodium hypochlorite solution for effective water purity in both fresh and salt-water situations. Using patented technology, the Hyprolyser® Compact 960 generates up to 23kg of sodium hypochlorite daily, providing sufficient chlorine for dosing exactly the right amount needed to keep the pool water clean whilst ensuring sustainability.

The reduction in transportation and storage needs makes the environment cleaner and reduces the hazards for the animals, staff and visitors alike is a tremendous sustainable advantage of on-site chlorine generation.

Simple Installation

“It was easy” said David Gibson of Complete Water Treatment. At just over 1.2m wide x 700mm deep and 1.6m tall in a skid unit, the Hyprolyser® Compact 960 chlorine generation system is surprisingly small and uses technology that means it is quick, easy and simple to install. On this project, Complete Water Treatment installed the innovative vacuum chlorine dosing system, Gaffey’s chemiDOS-MOTIVE, eliminating the need for conventional large pressurised mechanical dosing pumps, for the safe transfer of chlorine solution under negative pressure from tank to injection point.

The pool was officially handed back to Belfast Zoo in May 2021. And after a short training session, the zoo staff soon knew how to maintain the system to ensure it continued clean water in the pool.

Project outcome

One year on and David comments, “It’s running perfectly”. The system is reliable and consistent and easy to maintain. The cost savings after one year are significant. This is directly attributed to the reduction in chemical usage, as a result of on-site chlorine generation. The savings are reinvested back into the Zoo to ensure continued welfare of the animals.

The Sea Lions are happy and healthy in their new environment.